aqtechwrote: Except for the fact that your comparison is inaccurate and intentionally skewed, that's roughly how I feel about.

Where is the comparison inaccurate? Its like a "no extra charge" Cable "On Demand" service, or paying for a hotel room for a weekend (you don't pay more if you spend more hours in the room, or less if you spend fewer), or renting a U-Haul truck. That's what we are doing. We are paying for access to what's available.

Call it whatever you'd like, but I won't support that kind of business. I would feel differently if CR simply decided not to reacquire rights, etc.

I do not understand your complaint at all.

(1) Crunchyroll insists on a fixed license period for its simulcasts, with optional renewal for a fee, just like DVD licenses, manga licenses, etc. One thing that means is no renewal, at least not yet, because catalog titles do not pay enough for a new minimum guarantee. A fixed term when nobody knows yet who will be licensing what probably means one season after the series finished broadcasting, certainly for a single-season anime.

So for this series, under the terms that you are happy with, Crunchyroll gets Bombshells from the Sky for the Summer 2010 simulcast season, then an extra period during the Fall 2010 simulcast season, then the term is up and it expires. And by today, its long since gone.

(2) Crunchyroll licenses series with automatical renewals until someone else licenses it, as it looks like it licensed this one. That's the business model you are complaining about.

So for this terrible business model, Crunchyroll simulcast the series for Summer 2010, then kept it for the minimum of one extra season that every series licensed since the middle of 2010 has seemed to have, so that's Fall 2010 ... and then because nobody licensed it right away, it stayed on the site for Winter 2011, Spring 2011, Summer 2011, Fall 2011, and Winter 2012, and because someone recently licensed it, the rights are expiring.

Except, somehow, the rights are only expiring for the first two episodes, and, if we take the announcement at its word, not expiring at all in North America (we'll find out this weekend if really means that). So instead of everybody who still want to watch it, or who wants to rewatch it, having to marathon it by the end of March ... members outside of North America have to be sure to marathon the first two episodes.

But you would prefer it if it had simply gone dark over a year ago???

Regardless of the reason, in the end it all depends on how I, as an individual customer, feel about all of this as to whether or not I decide to continue paying.

Its just that I don't understand why getting catalog titles for an extra year or more is something an individual customer would feel bad about. More anime on the site for more people seems to me like something most other members would support.

In this particular case, availability is irrelevant to me (despite the fact that I don't live in the US year-round )--that was simply an assumption on your part.

Quite, which is why I stated the basis for the assumption.

I was referring to the situation in general, at least when my post is taken in context. Whether or not you agree on the general premise is your prerogative.

But the situation in general is we got more anime than if Crunchyroll did it the way you seem to say, signing all their contracts with fixed terms and never signing contracts were simulcasts can stay on the site until and unless someone else license them.

To correct your analogy, it would be akin to having to return a rental car because someone else made a better offer on it after the fact.

No, it would be akin to being allowed to drive a rental car for an extra month because nobody wanted to rent it, and then getting a call to return it because someone wants it. Its the fact that we are talking about a single-season Summer 2010 series that would be long gone under fixed terms that makes it hard for me to grasp why anyone would be upset. When it was announced as a simulcast in mid-2010, nobody would have bet the house on it still being here in Winter 2012.

Unfortunately, our disagreements only amount of half-full vs. half-empty. You've done an excellent job in enumerating what I don't like about it. I am happy for you that you do, in fact, like (or at least don't mind) how this works. If you can't comprehend why I happen to dislike the situation, no worries. It simply means Crunchyroll doesn't provide what I'm looking for nor does it do what I think should be done. While I don't mind the fact that I may be "renting" something (we technically don't own our DVDs, etc)., as you aptly put it, I do mind when selections are removed, old or new--it only makes it more vexing for me that it was done for the reason given. I don't think I'm alone in that I like to revisit many series eventually. I don't like the idea of paying someone else again for something I'm already paying regularly for. I guess I was expecting a paid, ready access to an accruing "rental collection" of sorts (that I'd be willing to forgo simulcasts in favor of, personally), not a selection that also moves negatively (no less based upon the whim of another company--my equivalent to getting a black eye and a handshake in return). What I'd like won't happen in the current industry, but I certainly don't wish the CR itself any malice in spite of that. I just won't pay for it to work in this manner. It's that simple.

While you point to how fortunate I am compared to other regions, that isn't untrue. It's just that it is a poor supporting element for what you are trying to say. I don't think the way it pans out for various regions is fair at all, but I do know CR does at least try.

In any case, I expressed my opinion as I originally wanted. I appreciate the time you, agila61, and anyone else spent reading, worthwhile or not.

aqtechwrote:
I don't like the idea of paying someone else again for something I'm already paying regularly for.

Technically, you shouldn't have to pay, as the first two episodes are traditionally the ones Funimation always keeps available for free streaming. Of course, you will have to put up with only 360p resolution (unless they put them on Hulu) and ads.

Since the alternative was likely Crunchyroll losing access to the complete series for the U.S. & Canada, to me it is a strange but acceptable alternative.

Full disclosure: I currently also have a subscription to Funimation Elite, so in reality, this doesn't currently affect me, although it would if I ever dropped that sub.

aqtechwrote: I guess I was expecting a paid, ready access to an accruing "rental collection" of sorts (that I'd be willing to forgo simulcasts in favor of, personally), ...

But that's not what Crunchyroll is. Crunchyroll's stated vision is to one day bring all anime broadcast in Japan streaming worldwide outside of Japan shortly after broadcast.

Its not there yet, whether or not it will ever get there ... but the idea is to be an online "DVR" of the current Japanese anime season. They keep series around as long as they can, but if there's a choice between spending our money on a 5 year license for just 1 anime, or on 10 exclusive streaming licenses for a week with shared streaming for at least one season after the broadcast ends ... then Crunchyroll has to pick the 10 streaming licenses.

Otherwise they'd make themselves into liars.

Well, it might not be ten to one ~ maybe eight or nine to one. After all, buying a permanent digital copy of, say, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex from iTunes costs $2/episode. A 26 episode season costs $52.

Someone with a $60 annual Crunchyroll subscription is paying $5/month. If they are following five series at an episode a week, that is about a quarter an episode ~ $3 for a 13 episode series, $6 for a 26 episode series.

$52/$6 = 8.67 : 1.

When we pay our quarter (or our dime for those who watch a lot more that that, or our half dollar for those who only watch a few series), we are paying for that view. We are not paying to accumulate a big back catalog.

Now, the back catalog continues to build, slowly, as more titles get licensed with licenses that automatically roll-over until and unless they get a license from a distributor. And so instead of being a home for the big hits, the catalog is more a home for the orphans ~ keeping stuff available that would otherwise only be available from bootlegs.

The big anime back catalogs are at Netflix streaming (especially for dubs), Hulu, and from the individual distributors Funimation.com and TheAnimeNetwork.

After being tipped off in another topic there was a problem, I checked episodes 1, 3, 4, & 12, and as a U.S. premium member, all give me only a 2 minute clip, and display "This video is not available to free users anymore. Please check the availability time windows for more details".

It was never mentioned that non-us couldn't get Episodes 1 and 2......

From the first message in this thread (red added for emphasis):

We wanted to let you know Asobi ni Ikuyo: Bombshells from the Skyepisodes 1 & 2 will only be available in North America after March 31st while the remaining episodes are still available WORLDWIDE except for Japan, Korea and Mongolia.

The message shows it was last edited 28 days ago (the same day it was posted).